


managing expectations

by eg1701



Series: Lucy Weasley-Wood [20]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25191493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eg1701/pseuds/eg1701
Summary: Lucy and Oliver discuss her upcoming OWLs.
Relationships: Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood
Series: Lucy Weasley-Wood [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1399813
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	managing expectations

**Author's Note:**

> *taps mic* is this thing on? 
> 
> i've been not writing this for almost two months now but i promise i'm not gone! i've been stuck in the scary clown movie fandom (as you can see by my recent posts) and i've also got my writer's block back double time. this is just a quick little filler episode.

Lucy sat on the low wall outside of the Burrow, bouncing her heel off the wall and staring at nothing in particular on the ground. It was getting darker by the minute, and she regretted going out without a jacket.  


It was never easy to sneak away from a Weasley family gathering, but she was pretty impressed that the only person who had spotted her had been Albus, who, after a brief silent conversation in which Lucy shook her head and Albus shrugged, he had not come after her. She thought he probably wouldn’t.  


“Lucy?” Oliver called.  


Well, she figured, at least she’d had a moment. Albus probably hadn’t snitched on her intentionally, but nobody could keep things from Oliver. He had a way of figuring out what you knew, even if you didn’t really say it.  


“Your dad will have my head if he finds out you’re here without a jacket,” he said, shrugging out of his own and placing it on her shoulders, “Everything alright?”  


“It’s just too loud in there,” she said, watching as he sat down next to her, “Wanted a second to think in the quiet.”  


Oliver made a thoughtful noise, “Percy used to do the same thing when we were in school. Want to talk about it?”  


Lucy shrugged, “Can I ask you something?”  


“Course,” he said, “You know that.”  


She twisted one of her braids around her finger. She knew this was a nervous habit now, but didn’t have any plans to give it up, “What if I don’t do well on my OWLs? I mean all my professors talk about how Dad got all twelve OWLs and how they know I’m going to be just like him but what if I’m not?”  


“Well,” Oliver began, frowning slightly. She could hardly see him now in the dark, and after a moment, he lit the tip of his wand, washing them both in a dim light, “If you don’t get all twelve, mostly because your father nearly went mad trying to study for all those, and it can’t be healthy, then you don’t. It doesn’t matter Lucy.”  


“It does though,” she said, “It matters to me. Don’t you see? Everybody expects me to because Dad did it already. There were already plenty of people who couldn’t believe I didn’t play Quidditch. I don’t know.”  


“Lucy,” he shook his head, “You’re not me. You’re not Percy. You’re you. Look, let’s look at this for a second alright? What classes matter to you?”  


Lucy wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She wasn’t sure when she’d started tearing up, but she didn’t want him to see, “Charms. History of Magic. Potions. Mostly those for International Magical Cooperation.”  


“Alright,” he said, nodding, “That’s three classes we can focus on. How many OWLs would you realistically like to get?”  


“Those three,” Lucy said slowly, considering his question. Most of her professors wanted their students to pass the OWL for their class and since Lucy was taking twelve classes, she had assumed she should shoot for twelve, “Plus Defense Against the Dark Arts, cause it’s Uncle Harry and all. And Astronomy, so I can still take it. And Transfiguration. I like Transfiguration.”  


“So that’s what? Six? Six is a good number to shoot for right?”  


“I guess,” she said, “That’s only half of twelve though.”  


Oliver shook his head, “Lucy you feel like you need to compare yourself to us, to your cousins and Molly and everybody but you don’t. What’s that Percy always tells you? 

You’re Lucy Weasley-Wood. You don’t need to be anybody else. You can’t destroy yourself studying. You’re a brilliant girl, and a wonderful student. You’re going to go far.”  


She wiped her eyes again, and he put an arm around her shoulders. After a moment, she leaned in.  


“Twelve _is_ an obscene number isn’t it,” she said, giggling slightly.  


“Oh absolutely. But your know your dad. I think six is a good number Lucy. You don’t need to be an O in Herbology to work for the Ministry right? I won’t tell Neville.”  


“I guess so,” she said, “People just _expect_ things of me.”  


“Yeah,” Oliver said, and she felt him kiss the top of her head, “I know. You know I think if Gryffindor hadn’t won the cup my seventh year, my parents might have disowned me.”  


She knew he was joking to make her feel better, but she also sensed there might have been some level of truth to his words. Her grandparents had expected a lot of Oliver growing up. She had assumed that people expected things from her too. But he was right. She could scrape together three OWLs and they’d still be thrilled she got them.  


“You know Lucy,” he said, “I never thought I’d have children. It didn’t seem like a possibility in my future. All I cared about was Quidditch. Then the war came and _nobody_ thought they’d live to have children. But you and Molly have been such gifts in our lives that we didn’t quite expect when we first got married. We’re proud of you no matter what you do. That’s why when Molly and the team don’t win we’re still proud of how she played. When you bring us an exam you wished you’d done better on, we’re still proud of how hard you worked. Right? Don’t burn yourself out studying.”  


“I guess,” she said, feeling a little better, “Who told you I was out here?”  


“Who do you think? Albus. One look after I asked told me he knew.”  


“Traitor,” she muttered, “Thanks for coming after me I guess.”  


He smiled, “It was mostly to keep your dad from finding out and worrying ‘bout you. But are you alright Lucy? I know I’m not good at helping you with your actual studying but I think I know a little about this.”  


She nodded, “You’re right. I guess.”  


Oliver rolled his eyes, “Thanks Lucy. Ready to go back inside? I saw that pie your grandmother made and it looks very good. I’d hate to miss it.”  


She jumped down off the wall, her fit hitting the grass with a soft thump. The dark was full now, and even the moon was mostly hidden behind the clouds. She heard her dad step down as well. He put firm hands on her shoulders and smiled.  


“Six OWLs,” she said, “Six guaranteed. Nine as a goal. Twelve is if I'm lucky.”  


Oliver nodded, “Very doable I think.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> i also hope to get back into writing this. you know where to find me (@feuillytheflorist on tumblr)


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